Nintendo Wii And DSi Shops Go Down For Days, Will They Ever Come Back Online?

Nintendo Wii console on a blue background
Are you able to access your Nintendo Wii or DSi games? If you answered no, you are not the only one. The Nintendo Wii and DSi Shop Channels have been offline since March 16th and there is no indication they will ever come back online.

Nintendo stopped selling DSi games in 2017 and Wii games in 2019. However, it allowed the Shop Channels to remain online to allow players to access previously purchased games. Nintendo noted that this ability would only be available for a certain amount of time, but did not provide an exact timeline.

Consumers are currently unable to access their games. Those who attempt to go to the DSi and Wii Shop Channels will be met with the following error codes-- 290502 and 209601. They may also see the image we have included below which states, "The info you're looking for can't be found!" Interestingly, Nintendo’s main server is still up and running and users have reported they can access their games via third-party tools such as "NUSDownloader."

Nintendo page error with Wario
It is unclear at the moment if the channels are down for maintenance or if they are completely gone. Nintendo did not announce that the channels would be down or removed and they have not provided any kind of update. Consumers are concerned that they have lost access to their games. Regardless of what is going on, consumers have contended that they wished Nintendo had given some kind of warning.

Nintendo did announce last month that they will soon completely close the 3DS And Wii U eShops. Consumers will no longer be able to use a credit card to add funds to an account in Nintendo eShop on Wii U or the Nintendo 3DS family of systems as of May 23rd, 2022 or use a Nintendo eShop Card for the same purpose as of August 29th, 2022. Nintendo commented that it will permit users to redeem download codes until late March 2023 and that it "will still be possible to redownload games and DLC, receive software updates and enjoy online play on Wii U and the Nintendo 3DS family of systems." It did not say how long It will allow consumers to access purchased 3DS and Wii U games, but commented that users will at least be able to do so for the "foreseeable future."